Discus Keeping

[justandy333]

I have plans of getting a larger fish tank than the one i already have (30").
I also like the idea of keeping discus in them.
Ive heard that they can be quite tricky to keep. So does anyone have information on keeping discus that can be useful. I havent brought anything yet, so whatever people recommend will be concidered.
info on tank size, water quality, compatibility, filtration, different variations of discus will be greatly appreciated. Basically anything about discus.lol.

 

[DarkEntity]

You do realise that discus are shoal fish and can get to 10" each, so you would need a tank substantially larger than 30". I persoally would prob be looking at a 6ft tank at least. Discus need really good water quality and really nice tank mates nothing too gregarious.

 

[angelmouse]

Hi i`m just in the process of cycling my first discus tank, Mine is 48x15x18 and have been told that this is the minimum size for 5 discus (they do best in shoal of 5 or more) so the bigger the better. I sure someone with more experience will give you more info, but they like soft water and need plenty of water changes
Angel

 

[justandy333]

Yep, like i say im open to any suggestions. I havent got the tank yet so any advice on tank sizes is super.
nothing too Gregarious? u mean not shoaling together too much? (had to look up in the dictionary) lol.
I hear they need deep tanks rather than long tanks. Anyone have any opinions in the matter?
Anyone who keep discus out there? need ur advice lol.

Heres what i know so far. They live in Reverse osmosis water environments.
They need a PH of around 6.5.
They prefer external filtration, Roughly 5 times the tank volume per hour.
Need larger tanks, preferably deep tanks.
Not sure bout this one --- Need daily 10% water changes.
Kept in shoals of about 5 or 6.
Only kept with community fish of equal PH tolerance.

If anyone keeps discus successfully then ur advice wud be fantastic.
If the knowledge that i have above is rubbish then feel free to correct me. Im just tryin to be a better fish keeper lol.

 

[newfishaddict]

I have had discus for three weeks. But I did do research for months before buying them.

Each full grown discus will need at least 10gallons each. A 75g is minimum but discus will like tall tanks when they are larger so I got a 90g that is 4" taller. I have RO water but am NOT using it yet. Young disucs grow better in harder water. Certainly you know NOT to use 100% RO water?

I would not keep them with any other fish with a few exceptions. Now I can see that disucs feed much better without competition. Corries dont bother the disucs much but my neon tetras do feed more agressively thus the discus get less food. I have the fattest healthiest neons though. Keep discus only with fish that can tolerate 30 degrees celceius, feed slowly, and done keep too many other fish. Part of my problem is that I have 19 neons in the 90g with 5 juvenile disucs so I am going to remove 11 neons soon.

They do not need pH 6.5. If you get a wild caught one, that is different; but now with most being bread in hard water (speeds growth of juveniles) they can live in harder water.

I use carbon that I replace every 7-8 days. Some do this some do not.

Also dont keep any fish that swim all the time, and dont keep any fish larger the discus in the same tank. Discus spook easily, dont keep the tank in a high traffic or noise area. They dont like bright lights very much. You should clean the bottom of the tank very often. Since you will have a clean tank with lots of water changes, you can fill you canister filter with mainly biological media like ceramic blocks. I use a rena xp3 in my 90g with only one filter sponge that I clean weekly and the rest of the filter is FULL of bio media that I never clean but I do rinse occasionally. Discus dont like current so I point my spray filter output at the back side of the tank do reduce current. I use a power head on low to move some more water. I also use plants that I dont have to trim often so as to not spook the fish often.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

No two discus keepers will tell you the same thing. I have kept them for a few years and now just keep a pair in a 25 gallon. They have been doing fine in there for 18 months and tried to spawn numerous times, but he appears to be infertile. My tap water params for them are pH 7.4, GH 6dg, temp 84-85F. The tank is barebottom (makes cleaning a lot easier) but has wood and potted plants. Companions I have kept with them are sterbai corys, which can take it warm, and currently a couple of zebra plecos.

Discus are grazers not agressive eaters and have relatively small digestive system so they do best on a few small feedings throughout the day. They need a fair amount of protein in their diet.

They need very clean water and should get water changes at least every 3rd day.

Discus don't like a lot of current.

Discus don't like too much activity from tank companions- corys, small plecos, tetras can all work well.

Young discus are best kept in groups but an adult pair can be kept on its own.

Start with a hardy strain such as red turqs etc to get your feet wet.

 

[kev_kb]

I would suggest you search the forum for Discus, there has been a lot of posts about them, then if you have questions to post them here.

But here's my general view.

Juvenile fish should be raised in bare bottom tanks and in large groups. I would not suggest this route for a new Discus keeper however, as there is potential to stunt/kill the fish if the correct environment is not provided.

I would start with fish around 4", IMHO they settle in a lot better and are a little easier to keep than juveniles. I would also keep them in a bare bottom tank to ease maintance. I would also find a decent discus supplier, and not just use a local LFS as some will have very poor quality fish and will most likely not know much about them. You should match your water parameters to the supplier.

A group of 5 could be kept in a 48x15x18, but of course bigger is better. 4'x2'x2' is a good size... longer if you can.

Pairs can be kept in smaller tanks, but ONLY if they are breeding pairs, you cannot just put any two discus together in a small space!

Finally feed them a mix of flake, pelleted food, bloodworms, and beefheart mix and they will do fine.

 

[justandy333]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Its been most helpful.
Just gone and brought myself a Jewel vision 260 tank. With a tetra tec 1200 filter. V expensive tanks lol. but its gonna be worth it .
Im gonna let the tank cycle for a while yet before i get the fish. Need to save up for em yet lol. £60 each!
Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Anita]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=164510&hl=

A couple of pics from another thread

Good luck Andy post some pictures when your 'up and running' and remember the most important thing keep the water clean, and you'll have a tank of healthy fish

newfishaddict
You should not have to remove any of your tetras. Give your discus time to settle.
Carbon has been linked to HITH, while I certainly wouldn't advise you to remove it (each to their own ) please do some research. I have never found the need to use carbon.
Also if you are only changing 10% of your water a day, it could be an idea to keep a close eye on your pH and nitrates, if your water is fairly soft even a pretty low nitrate reading can pull down your pH (this can happen quite fast)

Anita

 

[annka5]

ooh, I keep mine in a vision 260 tank. I've six, with 15 cardinals and some cory. They get on great with that, and I think it's a nice sized tank for that number of fish.
I'd generally agree with the advice already given - start with larger fish (I know, more expensive, but a lot hardier), do frequent water changes, and keep the water parameters stable - this is more important than keepin the pH or hardness at any "ideal" value. You're best off matching these to the breeders' water if possible.
I've kept mine for around a year now, and they are great fish which repay the extra work!